Barça has dozens of reports from Erling Haaland. He has had them since his beginnings in the lower categories of the Norwegian national team, when he was still a youth and played for Bryne FK, and after his move to Molde. They intensified once he signed for RB Salzburg and increased when he arrived in Germany, already dressed in the Borussia Dortmund shirt. There are reports at the club made by members of the scouting department who no longer work for Barça. The monitoring of the player has been exhaustive and regular. In part because, from a very young age, his goalscoring ability and his privileged physique have not gone unnoticed.
In that sense, no one has ever doubted his talent. Still, there is documentation stating that his qualities could become difficult to fit into a style of play as unique as the Blaugrana, where the figure of the center forward, for many years, has been exercised by footballers with a profile far removed from that of the Norwegian. However, thanks to his exponential growth, the more tactical and footballing aspects were more hidden in the different reports over the years because Haaland’s potential was beyond doubt.
In fact, in this aspect, there have already been little doubt in recent times when Barça began to move seriously to convince the player of the benefits of agreeing to start a new project at Camp Nou. The best proof of this was his meeting with Xavi Hernández in Munich.
Despite the attempts by Joan Laporta and the coach himself, among the reports prepared by the entity’s scouting department, there are also comments related to Erling’s more personal aspect. And there, the Norwegian does not benefit too much because his evaluations indicate that Haaland feels a special attraction for the nightlife and the party. Beyond specific episodes that have even come to light, the player has had, during the last year, behaviors somewhat far from what a professional of his level should have. His youth has been taken into account, but the continuous muscular injuries suffered in recent months have not helped form an image that would recommend investing as important as that necessary to achieve his signing.